RACELAND – Imagine looking out over snowcapped mountains or a bubbling stream. You hear the water gurgling, the birds singing and fish splashing. Then the MRI Technologist asks you how you’re doing and you realize you forgot you were even having a test done!
This is reality thanks to Ochsner St. Anne General Hospital’s new Wide Bore MRI with Caring Suite. This technology, which is the first of its kind in the region and one of only a few in the world, offers a more comfortable, less clinical environment for patients needing an MRI. “The Caring Suite technology is a unique software package that uses the patient’s sense of sight, sound and touch to foster a more soothing, relaxing atmosphere,” says Ritchie Dupre, Ochsner St. Anne General Hospital’s Chief Operating Officer.
Caring Suite allows the patient to choose one of 16 different themes to set the room’s lighting, sound/music and visual images. All together this gives the illusion that the patient is not in an MRI unit but somewhere relaxing and inviting.
In addition to the Caring Suite technology, the new system boasts a range of other features to make the patient experience better:
• More spacious testing area
• Quiet technology to reduce noise
• Precise imaging capability, resulting in definitive diagnoses and reduced exam times
“This is the future of MRI technology right here in our area,” says Jenny LeBoeuf, MD, Ochsner St. Anne General Hospital’s MRI fellowship-trained radiologist and the only MRI fellowship-trained radiologist in the region. “This method of fostering a calming environment in the midst of a clinical procedure room is truly revolutionary and will benefit our local patients tremendously.” LeBoeuf says the machine will make it easier for patients of all sizes and types to have testing performed, including those with claustrophobia.
MRI scans are traditionally needed for patients with a medical condition that is not easily detected through a more conventional physical exam. The GE 450W is used to non-invasively scan head, neck, TMJ, spine, abdomen, pelvis, joints, blood vessels and musculoskeletal regions of the body.
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About Ochsner’s Raceland services:Ochsner’s Raceland services include seven local health centers and Ochsner St. Anne General Hospital. Ochsner Raceland is a part of Ochsner Health System, southeast Louisiana’s largest non-profit, academic, multi-specialty, healthcare delivery system. For more information, please visit www.ochsner.org and follow us on Twitter and Facebook.
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